Lady&#39;s undergarment



Nov. 14, 1950 s. LANDAU 2,529,774

LADY'S UNDERGARMENT i Filed Hmmd 19. 1948 INVENTOR.

Sum Landau ATTO Patented Nov. 14, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to a womans garment, particularly a womans undergarment, and especially to a womans undergarment of the type which includes a bodice portion, such as a slip, or the like.

It is the present mode for women to wear, on various occasions, many types of sleeveless and strapless outer garments, such as strapless evening gowns, sun dresses, bathing suits and the like. Since such strapless outer garments cannot be worn with the conventional bodiced and strap supported undergarments, such as the conventional slips, brassires, and the like, the wearers of such strapless outer garments heretofore found need to provide themselves with a set or sets of appropriately similar strapless accessory undergarments, at additional expense and encumbrance of the wardrobe.

It is one object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an undergarment of the character described which may be readily and easily converted from a conventional, strap supported type to a strapless kind, and vice versa, so that it may be worn, in one form, with the strapless outer garments and with equal comfort and convenience as well with the conventional type of outer garment, thus making it doubly useful and eliminating the need for additional expense and the crowding of the wardrobe.

It has been found that the wearing of strapless garments, though attractive and in the mode, involves a degree of inconvenience and discomfort to the wearer due to the absence of supporting straps, particularly with undergarments which are diflicult and embarrassing to adjust when they slip down on the body, as they frequently do. Such garments are generally provided with tightly titled body gripping top's which are very uncomfortable and often painful because of their effect on the circulation of the blood through the body.

It is, therefore, another object of the present invention to provide strapless undergarments of the character described which may be worn with a maximum degree of safety against slipping down on the body and yet with a minimum of pressure on and discomfort to the body.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a strapless undergarment of the character described which will not bind on the body as it moves or is moved thereon, but will move smoothly and evenly thereon, without twisting orfolding up, thereby increasing the convenience of'putting it on and taking it off as Well as the comfort in wearing it.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a new and novel shoulder strap buckle which may be quickly, easily and conveniently attached to and detached from the undergarment, thereby rendering the conversion of such undergarments from strapless to strap supported and vice versa, rapid, easy and convenient.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the undergarments or the like of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying draw.- ings and from the description following. It is to be understood, however, that such embodiment is shown by way of illustration only, to make the principles and practice of the invention more readily comprhensible, and without any intentv of limiting the invention to the specific details therein shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary perspective view of the.

bodice portion of an undergarment of the present invention having detachable shoulder straps,k

Referring more specifically to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is shown therein as embodied in a slip Ic having the bodicev portion I I formed with a body engaging marginal band I2 at its upper end. The band may prefv era-bly be of flat tubular, sheath likeconstruction and may be formedof two ply of material, an outer ply I3, which may be of ornamental and decorative character, and an inner ply It, whichv may be of a different material, preferably a nonslipping, friction creating material. The two ply I3 and Illof the band I2 may be secured to one another at their upper edges, in extended position, by the stitching I5, and at their lower,

edge, in gathered position, which may be eifected by the closely spaced small tucks Itiby the stitching Il, which may simultaneously serve to se-' cure the band I2 to the upper edge of the bodice I I, which may also be slightly gathered, as by the more sparsely spaced tucks I8.

In order to support the garment id on the body without any shoulder straps, an annular elastic element is disposed within the sheathlike band I2. Whereas, heretofore flat elastic bands have been used for the purpose, which flat bands tended to twist on themselves and to bind on the body when the garment was moved thereon for putting it on and taking it oli". I avoid such results by utilizing for the annular elastic element an elastic cord, 2E), of round cross-section, which will tend to roll as it is moved over the body, and will not twist or bind. The cord may preferably be confined to a point adjacent the upper edge of the band I2, close to the stitching I5, for the purpose and by the means hereinafter described.

I have found that in a construction as described, wherein the top band I2 is of a width substantially greater than required merely to accommodate the elastic therein and therefore contacts the body along a relatively large area, and wherein the bottom edge is foreshortened by tucking to substantially body circumference and the elastic element is confined to the upper edge of the band, the elastic cord 2B need not be of such reduced circumference that it will be so tight as to retain the garment securely in place on the body exclusively by its own pressure.v I have found that in such construction the cord 20 need be only suciently snug tting as to press the inner face of ply I3 of the band I2 against the body, thus providing in addition to its relatively small elastic pressure contact friction between such inner face of the ply I3 and the body of the wearer along a substantial area which friction greatly aids in the support of the garment and more than compensates for any reduction in pressure of the cord 2d in keeping the garment in place on the body without the aid of shoulder straps and with a minimum of discomfort from pressure.

In order to render the garment itl convertible to the conventional strap supported variety, there may be attached a pair of spaced fabric loops, 2|, to the rear of the garment at its upper edge and a corresponding pair of loops, 22, to the front of the garment at its upper edge. Preferably such loops may each be made of a folded over piece of fabric which may be secured to the garment at one point by the stitching I5, and at another, lower point, to the band I2, by the stitching 23, leaving a small loop, 2li, at each loops 2| and 22, through which the cord 20 may be passed to thus retain and confine it adjacent the upper edge of the band I2, as heretofore explained.

A pair of separate shoulder straps, 25, are provided with the garment I IJ. These shoulder straps may be of generally conventional construction and may be adjustable as to lengt as by means of the adjusting buckle, 25, operating in the conventional manner. Each of the shoulder straps is provided at each of its ends with a separable buckle, generally designated as 21, having a pair of eyes, through one of which, as the completely closed eye, 23, the end of the strap 25 is secured, and the other of which, 29, is formed with a slit, 3S, in one of its sides, adjacent the connecting side, 3l, forming a hook like formation, through which slit the loops 2I or 22 may be engaged to be retained within the eye 29 by such hook formation.

It may here be stated that the band I2 or the elastic 2D need not extend completely around the edge of the opening of the bodice II, but their extent may be varied in accordance with style and other considerations.

It may here also be stated that the loops 2l 4 and 22 may be used to secure the garment to the straps of another, strap-supported garment that may be worn over or under the garment IS, as by means of suitable pins.

This completes the description of one embodiment of a garment of the present invention. It will be readily apparent that such dual purpose garment is of relatively simple construction, easy and convenient to put on and take off, convenient and comfortable to wear, economical to use, and otherwise highly effective for the attainment of all of the objects of the invention.

It will also be apparent that many variations and modifications in the garments of the present invention may be made by anyone skilled in the art, in accordance with the principles of the invention hereinabove set forth and without the use of any inventive ingenuity. I desire, therefore, to be protected for any and all such modifications and variations that may be made within the spirit of the present invention and the scope of the claims hereto appended.

What I claim is:

l. An undergarment of the character described having a bodice portion, a hollow band connected to the upper edge of said bodice portion, said band being of substantial width and comprising an inner band ply and an outer band ply, said plies connected to one another along their upper edges in extended relation, said plies connected to one another along the lower edges and to the upper edge of the said bodice in gathered rela-tion to form a restricted circumference for the upper edge of said bodice of approximate body t, two pairs of cooperating loops secured to said band adjacent its upper edge in shoulder strap engaging position, each of said loops secured to said band by a pair of spaced lines of stitches extending through the plies of the band, said lines of stitches forming a narrow passageway between said plies at the upper edge of the band, an elastic cord of circular cross section disposed within said band and passed through said passageways whereby it is held adjacent the upper edge of said band, and a pair of shoulder straps each having a double-eye buckle secured thereto at each end by one of its eyes, the other eye of each of said buckles having a slit formed in one of its sides wherethrough it may be engaged on one of said loops.

2. In a strapless undergarment of the chai'- acter described having a bodice portion adapted to fit over the body, a flat, hollow band secured to the upper edge of said bodice portion, said band being of substantial width a-nd comprising an inner band ply and an outer band ply, said plies connected to one another along their upper edges in extended relation, said plies connected to one another along their lower edges and to the upper edge of the said bodice portion in gathered relation to thereby restrict said upper edge to approximate body fit, a relatively narrow elastic element of lesser length than the upper edge of said band disposed within said band and extending completely around it, and means for retaining said elastic element adjacent the upper edge of the said band.

3. In a strapless undergarment of the character described having a bodice portion adapted to t over the body, a hollow band of substantial width secured to the upper edge of the said bodice portion, said band comprising an inner band ply and an outer band ply, said plies secured to one another along their upper edges in extended relation, said plies secured to one another along their lower edges and to the upper edge of the said bodice portion in gathered relation whereby said upper edge is restricted to approximate body girth, a relatively thin elastic element of circular cross section of a length less than said band disposed within said band and extending therearound, and means for retaining said elastic element adjacent the upper edge of said band.

4. The undergarment of claim 3 including two pairs of loops, each loop secured 'to said band adjacent its upper edge in shoulder strap engaging position by a pair of spaced lines of stitches extending through said loops and both of said plies and forming a narrow passageway between said plies Wherethrough said elastic ele ment is inserted, said passageways forming said elastic element retaining means, said loops each adapted to engage one end of a detachable shoulder strap.

SAM LANDAU.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number 

